I assume this might be a problem related to how Windows handles memory allocation. I used to experience the same error with many other applications (surprisingly not with NOD32) and the only thing that helped was to completely reinstall my Windows XP.

Just a thought cause I know how I hate to format... happend waay to much in my life

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Thanks, I will try to reinstall NOD32. If I disabled NOD32, I can play it fine.The problem doesn´t show up everytime, but yesterday it showed up 5 times in 30 minutes.Hope I don´t need to format my computer again.I have to much things to setup again.

I get the same error occasionally. NOD32 is the cause. Uninstall it, install another AV and never see the error again. Reinstall, error comes back.

I'd just disable NOD32, as long as you have a firewall you should be fine.

What other security apps are you running? Do you have a NAT firewall or software?

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I have a 3Com Office Connect 812 ADSL Router and I´m using the last version of Outpost Firewall too.As I said before, I disabled all kind of programs and services started, only NOD32 was running.No way to play yesterday. After I´ve disabled it, I could play without any kind of problem.

There's no need for an OS reinstall. The "memory could not be read" error message is an application level error message. It means that the application itself encountered an unexpected situation, not the OS. I believe that the memory read operation can fail for a fairly wide variety of reasons (eg, the memory referenced wasn't in the current process' allocated memory region, there was an access violation because that page of memory was marked as "noaccess" or "execute" only, there was an access violation because a file operation wasn't completed properly, etc.).

Most likely NOD32's AMON module is affecting one of HL2's file operations and somehow messing it up (eg, delaying it, changing some usually innocuous file operation parameter, etc). However, if HL2 was coded properly it would not necessarily expect every file operation to succeed and it would have code to handle the various file exceptions listed in the API. Maybe they do, but I suspect that the coder's probably took some shortcuts and just made some assumptions about the rare exceptions that can occur.

One question... do you have AMON set to scan all files (ala Blackspear's method) or do you have AMON set to scan only certain extensions (ala the ESET defaults)? If you are scanning all files, I would suggest you revert back to the ESET defaults and try it that way.

[EDIT: Well, I suppose these guys are right... it could also possibly be due to a DLL version mismatch problem (DLL Hell), but still I wouldn't necessarily worry about rushing into an OS reinstall or something drastic like that. If you have to I would pull up something like "Dependency Walker" and examine which DLL's Half-Life 2 relies upon and then just make sure those are the most current ones. You could also get real creative and load up Process Explorer while running HL2 to see what module is in the memory range attempting to make the memory read operation.]

Thats not possible with Windows XP's System File Protection - Does not allow important files to be replaced by older versions.

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Important... that's excactly the keyword. All other DLL's can be replaced!
And SP2 installs a lot of DLL's wich can be replaced - or why do you think that MS advices to reinstall SP's after installing some applications?!

There's no need for an OS reinstall. The "memory could not be read" error message is an application level error message. It means that the application itself encountered an unexpected situation, not the OS. I believe that the memory read operation can fail for a fairly wide variety of reasons (eg, the memory referenced wasn't in the current process' allocated memory region, there was an access violation because that page of memory was marked as "noaccess" or "execute" only, there was an access violation because a file operation wasn't completed properly, etc.).

Most likely NOD32's AMON module is affecting one of HL2's file operations and somehow messing it up (eg, delaying it, changing some usually innocuous file operation parameter, etc). However, if HL2 was coded properly it would not necessarily expect every file operation to succeed and it would have code to handle the various file exceptions listed in the API. Maybe they do, but I suspect that the coder's probably took some shortcuts and just made some assumptions about the rare exceptions that can occur.

One question... do you have AMON set to scan all files (ala Blackspear's method) or do you have AMON set to scan only certain extensions (ala the ESET defaults)? If you are scanning all files, I would suggest you revert back to the ESET defaults and try it that way.

[EDIT: Well, I suppose these guys are right... it could also possibly be due to a DLL version mismatch problem (DLL Hell), but still I wouldn't necessarily worry about rushing into an OS reinstall or something drastic like that. If you have to I would pull up something like "Dependency Walker" and examine which DLL's Half-Life 2 relies upon and then just make sure those are the most current ones. You could also get real creative and load up Process Explorer while running HL2 to see what module is in the memory range attempting to make the memory read operation.]

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Hi Alec.

Thanks for all informations.
My NOD32 is set as you said, ala Blackspear's method.
What about putting Steam directory into NOD32´s exclusion files ?
I have Process Explorer. I´ll check those DLL
Maybe the new beta will have some improvements in this area ?

Np. I'm just here to help because I believe NOD32 is the best AV out there and I expect it to only get better.

DonKid said:

My NOD32 is set as you said, ala Blackspear's method.
What about putting Steam directory into NOD32´s exclusion files ?

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Definitely give it a shot. Remember, some people have had to use the short naming convention in their exclusions to get them to work. I don't have any exclusions myself, but I'm told that your exclusion has to match the naming format that the application itself uses. If you have to, you can always use Sysinternals' Filemon to see what files and extensions HL2 is trying to reference... and use those in your exclusions.

DonKid said:

I have Process Explorer. I´ll check those DLL
Maybe the new beta will have some improvements in this area ?

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I probably wouldn't worry about the DLLs if the AMON exclusions work. DLL issues can be a real pain! And if they are the cause I can almost see why Marcos would recommend a reinstall.

Yeah, I hope the new code addresses whatever underlying compatability problem might have been causing this. Although, for something that might involve a lot of file activity (like a database, a fast-paced game w/ level caching, some sort of logging application, etc.), I would tend to exclude them from any resident AV scanning from any vendor. I, myself, choose to run with the AMON defaults and save the scanning of all files to on-demand runs.

Important... that's excactly the keyword. All other DLL's can be replaced!
And SP2 installs a lot of DLL's wich can be replaced - or why do you think that MS advices to reinstall SP's after installing some applications?!

I experience this exact message with CS:Source. This happens every 1/2 to hour I suppose. I do not have NOD32.

I did a fresh install of Win XP Home Edition Installed. Installed Soundcard drivers, Video Card drivers, SP2, ZoneAlarm Firewall, AVG anti-virus in that order. It still crashes. I've tried disabling whatever I can and removing through task manager to see if it helps, no good.

Ah, I just received this error a few days ago. That actually kickstarted my memory, since for a while a few months ago (January or February, I believe), I was getting the message a lot. As I recall, it started happening right after a Steam update. It also happened only when connected to certain servers. When I play on servers in my Favorites list, I never crash. However, when I play on random servers, I sometimes do crash. My feeling is that this is a Steam issue.

We have ATI and NForce chipset in common. I think it may have to do with the Catalyst drivers. I say this because C&C Generals also would crash as often... see below.

I've disabled the following:

Using System Mechanic I disabled ATIPTA in Windows Startup. This gets ride of the ATI Tray App and some memory resident ATI processes.

I manually disabled ati2evxx.exe (both user started and system started) through Task Manager. I don't know how to stop these from loading.

So far I have not had this error happen again. I will post again if the problem continues. Command and Conquer Generals used to crash as well (I'm sure it was a different error msg) I'll re-install that and see what happens.

Alec - many thanks for suggesting ProcessExplorer that made it so much easier to know what processes can be killed safely.

I manually disabled ati2evxx.exe (both user started and system started) through Task Manager. I don't know how to stop these from loading.

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I realise this is off topic, but...

Start>Run>Type 'services.msc' (without quotes). You can disable the ATI processes from running on Startup there (Ati HotKey Poller and ATI Smart, in my case). I do this after every fresh Catalyst driver installation.

Are you using the Catalyst Control Center package or just the regular Control Panel drivers?

I agree with Plexshaw's post above. Try that see if it helps. I have been running NOD32 since mid January with no problems playin HL2 of CS:S. There have been some known bugs with HL2 as in memory related crashes and stuttering problems. Just hit the steam forums and see for yourself.

What are your system specs? How much RAM do you have? You can also go into the properties of both HL2 and CS:S and add -heapsize (half the amt of your ram with no quotes). This will change the default heapsize that the new source engine uses. As you know these new games are very ram and cpu intensive. A small price to pay however for the quality game and graphics that Valve have put out.

If you keep having problems, keep posting here. I have helped a bunch of peeps with problems with HL2. I also know one of the mods on the steam forums.

I see the items in services.msc now... disabled so not I'm free to ATI problems. Still no crashes since then. Thanks again for the insight here guys... it really helped out.

And I will post this on Steam's site as well and I suppose ATI's to boot. I'm not sure if I want to stick with ATI... I tend to have some issues like this.

I'm not sure how to answer the 'Catalyst Control Center' vs Contol Panel Drivers (default drivers?). I donwloaded the catalyst drivers and installed that package only (no Hydray-vision or MMC pack). I removed the tray option during setup. That is all that I've installed in terms of ATI software:
First link on this page is what I downloaded:https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27

Anyway... I didn't even really think about what the forum here was for and now see it's dedicated to NOD32. I was just so glad to find an exact match on the memory addresses (both calling and called)... it was the only one found in google.

Besides, I did get some responses that helped broaden the horizon for me in terms of trouble-shooting apps in the future.

Thanks again guys... and since you guys are into CS... happy hunting! No hacking please! ;-)